Sun Mote Copse Shedding aches for truth in a shape that's new

He seemed to tap the brakes too. Although this made the fire simmering in the pit of her belly flicker impatiently, she gave no indication of the urgent pressure continually building inside her. Eljay started to ask a question, though he didn't finish it. Wildfire could guess what he'd been about to ask but wasn't entirely certain how to answer. Did he really love her? She loved him, though she wasn't in love with him. Because she'd always performed this particular act simply to procreate, Wildfire perhaps had a bit of a skewed perspective on all of it.

That didn't mean they couldn't build something from this: a partnership as well as a family. There was so much potential chemistry between them. Was it backward to get knocked up first and attempt a relationship after the fact? Possibly. But Wildfire was feeling very "YOLO" just now, certainly a byproduct of her hormones. She already knew this was going to happen. They could figure out the rest later, honestly. They would figure it out, she was sure. Eljay was going to be a fantastic father.

A smile curved her lips at that thought, the first since learning of Bat's untimely demise. "I'll show you," she promised in a whisper. She noticed the morning sun peeking through the bare boughs overhead and glanced upward for a beat, then back down to Eljay's silvered face. "But first, c'mere." She nuzzled him, then turned and hopped out of the tangle of roots, giving herself a hearty shake as she emerged in the winter sun's radiant glow.